Planning your wedding day can be daunting and so to help make your planning a little easier- here are 7 little tips to help you choose your perfect wedding cake.
1) Venue & Breakfast Menu
Consider the venue you are getting married in. Are you thinking a country house, hotel, castle, marquee? Depending on the type of venue this will suit certain style of wedding cakes and often wedding cake inspiration can come from your wedding venue itself.
Also consider the cake flavours carefully. Consider what you have selected for your guests to eat for dessert and perhaps choose cake flavours that would compliment. If you are unsure, make sure that you seek advice from your wedding cake designer as well as sampling a selection of their cake flavours.
2) Matching your Budget
Weddings are expensive and there are a range of suppliers to suit every budget. Check carefully the wedding cake designers website to check their prices or minimum charge. Does it match your budget?
When communicating with your wedding cake designer, do let them know your cake budget so that they can guide you better and make the most of your budget. There is nothing worse then seeing your dream cake being designed and then having to take lots of elements away as the budget wasn’t made clear. They are not trying to spend it all, they want the best wedding cake possible for you.
3) When do I order?
If you have found the wedding cake designer for you and their prices are within your budget, then don't delay and Save your Wedding date. Most wedding cake artists will book up for peak wedding dates early, so it is recommended that you look to book after you have chosen your wedding date and booked your venue- so roughly 12-18 months before your wedding day. Peak wedding dates for the UK are bank holidays, and between May to September on the weekends.
To save your wedding date you will need to pay a non refundable deposit of about £100 and this will include your wedding cake consultation and cake tasting box. It doesn't matter if you haven't finalised your wedding theme, colours, flowers or wedding dress when you save the date. This we will look at in more detail at your wedding cake consultation which is hosted about 6-8 months before your wedding date.
4) Thinking Size
How much of an impact in your wedding venue do you want your wedding cake to have? How much cake did you want to serve your wedding guests? Did you want to save your top tier for a later date?
These are some of the questions you need to consider when planning the size of your wedding cake. When planning to serve your wedding guests, we assume that not all your guests will want to eat cake, so we cater for between 70% to 80% of your total guests.
If you have visions of a 5 tiered wedding cake but only need enough cake for 3 tiers there are ways to still create your wedding cake vision. You can opt for dummy or fake tiers, which are normally polystyrene cakes covered to look like normal cake. These use to be a cheap alternative to real cake, but with increasing costs there isn't much difference in price. The other option to create height without the expense of cake is to use a cake spacer. These are either made from acrylic or metal and see the images below to see some of the variety of options I have available to hire (for my clients only).
5) Why a Fondant Finish
Not only does fondant provide a crisp, clear and elegant finish, it also wraps around your cake to preserve it. Did you know that fondant gives your wedding cake a longer shelf life and helps maintain the sponges longevity while being on display on your wedding? A lot of skill goes into smoothly and crisply covering a wedding and it's this professional finish which I offer to my clients.
In the UK, many clients are put off fondant Icing as it brings back memories of Christmas cakes or shop brought celebration cakes which normally have a super thick fondant covering- yuck! A professional wedding cake has a layer of fondant about 3mm thick and tastes delicious.
Always remember, when your wedding cake is cut ready for your guests, that majority of the cake is just sponge. Those fondant fans will always opt for the slice with the fondant covering on- in fact they will be fighting for it :).
6) Wedding Cake Delivery
Always check with your wedding cake designer if they deliver your wedding cake. Trust me- you or your family do not want to be picking up a wedding cake on your wedding day. I’m not going to lie, even after years of practice, it’s still the part of the process that even us wedding cake designers are not fans off as it can be stressful- mostly because you are always worried about other drivers.
So to put your mind at rest- I arrive at your venue with your wedding cake safely packaged to avoid damage and dirt landing on your cake. I bring with me all the necessary equipment to make all those finishing touches and repair any damage during transit. I set up and style your wedding cake as agreed and discussed at your consultation and hand over the allergy information, storage boxes and any other relevant information to your venue. The storage boxes are for leftover wedding cake and to store your handmade flowers in.
7) Your Style
Every wedding cake designer has their own unique style, finish, quality and ethos. Do their wedding cakes on their website and social media fit into your wedding vision? Does their ethos line with yours?
When searching for your wedding cake designer, prices may be an initial thought, but you must consider the type and style too. You don’t want to employ a wedding cake designer who predominantly makes novelty wedding cakes for your fine art wedding or vice versa. Make sure they are the right fit and have the skills to meet your wedding vision requirements.
Give this blog a heart if you have found this useful or do let me know if you have any other thoughts to add to the list.
Best wishes
Claire xx
